From Rags to Riches

I wonder how it would feel to go from having $1,700 in your bank account to $180 million over night? According to a report by New York Times, Charles Forman– founder of OMGPOP, the company behind the popular app Draw Something knows exactly how this feels. The hit sensation was sold to Zynga and overnight, just like that, this app made Forman a millionaire.

There are endless possibilities of ways to make money. Today the possibilities go exceedingly high due to the amount of time people put into cell phone use and the internet– such as marketing, advertising, PR and social media. Online resources are our primary use in everyday activities. We depend on our countless apps for work, school, business, networking, leisure and so much more. That is why this story of the over night rags to riches isn’t so hard to believe. People everyday are creating apps for use to use. Some better than others and some exceptional in a way that they will bring millions of dollars to those who discover them.

Why Blog?

In a world like today, one must be exceedingly active in the world of social networking. This includes blogs, Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram (alauraashley) now one of my personal favorites and so much more. But why as professionals and media experts should we be active in our blogs. Well, one of the essential objectives and running metrics for social blogging is to grow the network of people who interact and share our blog content.

Key to a growing blog community depends on a perception of who the audience really is. As well as to what their information goals are set at. We must not only consider what it is the brand wants to gain, but what is it the consumer wants and or wants to be informed about.

A selfish way to blog misses the window of opportunity to create worthwhile connections with people. These are the people who will share, refer, buy, or tweet what it is you are objecting. Blogging is essential because it is one of the greatest publishing platforms. Blogging allow both one on one as well as one to many communications opportunities. Therefor, content should take on full advantage of those engagement possibilities by blogging about content of interest from the consumers/reader’s standpoint.

Louis Vuitton

In order for a company to succeed in branding they must first understand the needs and wants of their potential and current customers. A company must do this by integrating their brand strategies through their company at every opportunity to expose themselves to public contact.

A brand resides within the hearts and lives of their customers and prospects. It is their experiences and influenced perceptions that make your brand. One of my favorite brands, a brand in which has been so successful by a means of branding is Louis Vuitton. From the moment you walk into the door at any LV location to the moment of follow-up visits to ensure your bag is still satisfactory the people who represent the brand are impressive. I find LV to be a strong brand because it has continuously been a great source of promise to their consumers in ways by which it has invested time in research, defined themselves and in the end become a valuable brand.

Facebook.

Since I have been in college Facebook has held a huge part in the way I communicate with people. How much has it changed since I have been using it? How much has it changed us as students, personalities and professionals? Are we all a little more unbalanced now that Facebook has become a notable part of so many of our lives. Facebook has the power to  give us insights into friends and family that we never had before. Facebook offers us a distinguishable venue through which we can declare the degree of our lives for the world to see…

But what about those on our Facebook who choose to go a bit further. While in Europe I had the time to blog, tweet and Facebook. It was my dominate means of communicating to the world outside of my newly discovered home. It got out of hand and I may have accepted one too many friends. While Facebook is great– a great way to communicate, network both personally and professionally one must be careful to the unfortunate side of things. That is why I have for the first time in 4 years deactivated my account. While in my last semester of school I have chosen to more so focus on school and interning. While social networking in important especially in Public Relations I will do so in other ways. Facebook has come far– to the use of business ads to personal rants, however, I have chosen for some time to deactivate this outlet for everyone on the internet.

My Last Semester

So I haven’t blogged in months. I guess being back home and after getting accustomed back to my life before I traveled abroad left no time for something I really enjoyed doing while I was away. However, I am now in my last semester at SJSU and I want to take full advantage of my time in school. I want to get involved and stay active on my blog. I am taking 3 courses as well as interning. A course which is different from any other I have taken so far is MCOM 139 taught by a leading social media expert Michael Brito. He has thus far stressed the importance of social media, social business and long-term relationship building. Being in Public Relations I feel I will learn a lot from him, preparing me for the real world.

I know we can all agree that influence is especially important in life. I look forward to the people and relationships I am going to build this semester for reasons of influence. From literature, youtube, professors, peers and blogs people gain their inspiration in many different ways. However the idea of an influencer is taking a new shape in regards to social media. We can obtain negative as well as positive and exciting influences from the media. I  want to share the good on my blog and expose myself to things in the media that can benefit me as a professional.

I know this blog was for my trip abroad but I have become very familiar with it and like the exposure it has gotten me — including an opportunity to blog for a womans’ travel blog. This is why I am going to continue blogging here not about my time spent in Stockholm, but about my life here in California, my experiences both socially and professionally. After this I will post weekly updates for my MCOM 139 course which meets every Wednesday at 6-8:45 p.m.  Look for those …. #socialSJSU

– Alaura Bergado

It was all a Dream…

I have been home now for four months. I have been back to work, school and have caught up with all my friends. I am now going into finals week at school. I can’t believe that I have been home now long enough for a whole semester of school to go by. I look back at my time abroad and I miss it so much. The culture, people and difference in environments. I miss the spontaneous trips to different countries and all the encounters good and bad during these times. I have kept such close contact with Linda and Vanessa two people who I know will be in my life forever now. I feel like living in Sweden was a dream. It is as if it never even happened. It was 6 whole months but I guess in reality 6 months is not that long in comparison so my whole life. That chunk of time just seems so unreal and amazing that there is no way I really experienced it. Talking, Tangoing, skyping, fbing, tweeting, instagraming — all of these ways of contact with Linda and Vanessa keep me sure of time there. They post pictures that I can see frequently and I do the same so they can see my life here in California. Now the season is changing in Stockholm and I wish I was there to experience the beautiful weather. I would do anything to go back and start my time all over again. Next summer for sure I will make it to Sweden. Linda will be graduating and I won’t miss that for anything.

Dominique’s Birthday Weekend in San Diego

Sick Weekend

So this weekend – Saturday morning to be exact I woke up really sick with the flu. I had made plans a while ago to celebrate my friend Matt’s 25th birthday that night and I really didn’t want to miss it. So I stayed in bed the entire day and managed to force myself out of bed at 5 to start getting ready. After two hours of torture I was able to leave my house at 7 pm to make it to the dinner at 4th Street Pizza Parlor. We ate pizza and had some drinks before going to the club, Motif. It was a fun night. After I ate and drank a bit I started feeling a lot better.

Little did I know how much I would be suffering the next morning. I woke up yesterday 10x worse and had to go to work. Today I am still stick but  a tiny bit better. I will take the day to rest up and get some school work done. What a way to start my spring break.

Date Night With Mom

 

My mom and I had dinner together at the newest Mexico Lindo location in Silver Creek. The food and margaritas were great. However, the best part about the night was that Mexico Lindo was donating 20% of their sales to help with Japan. It’s nice to have some alone time with my mom. We are close and talk everyday but it’s rare that we get to spend the time together. Between work, school, the babies and everything else it seems almost impossible. However, we did get this night together– enjoyed authentic Mexican food and really strong margaritas. We ended the night with a glass of wine at Santana Row.

A little Swedish in San Francisco

Yesterday was a good day. It was very cloudy in San Jose and about half way to San Francisco it started storming and I could barely see out my windshield. A couple of times on the freeway my car even hydroplaned from the depth of the water. It was pretty scary and the drive which should of took a little under an hour ended up taking me about an hour and a half. However, I was very excited because I was going to be spending the day with my mentor and friend from Sweden, Janette.

She came to the US to go to school a month before I left Sweden so it has been about 4 months since I have see her. It was so nice seeing a friend from my life abroad. It was what I needed to be reminded that those 6 months away was not a dream and that it did really happen.

We decided that since it was such an ugly day outside we would do the Swedish thing. Go to a nice lunch, do a bit of shopping  (inside) then take a fika. We went to a great restaurant called North Beach Restaurant. We drank some wine and had amazing seafood. When we left to go back to my car I had a ticket!!! I was shocked there was still money in the meter. I guess I got the ticket for not turning my wheels into the curb in case my car rolls back. No one knows that is a law I’m assuming unless they have received a ticked for the same thing. I couldn’t believe it.

We then went to Union Square and shopped a little. When we managed to get somewhat hungry again we went to the top of a high rise building to Cheesecake Factory to take a fika. Coffee, tea and cheesecake. The view from up here is amazing even on a gloomy day.

It was a great day. By the evening the storm passed and I was on my way home with a rainbow behind me. I can’t wait for you to come Linda. We are going to have such an amazing time all over California!